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Description:

In-kind grants to USA and territories high schools and school districts to provide reliable, high-speed home internet access to eligible students. In addition to free internet access, students will receive free devices and content filters. Program owners will be responsible for identifying eligible students, distributing the devices, providing teacher advocates, and administering the program.

What eligible high school students receive:

- 3 GB per month of free high-speed LTE data while on the Sprint Network. Unlimited data is available at 2G speeds if usage exceeds 3 GB in a month.
- A free smartphone, tablet or hotspot device.
- Free hotspot capability and unlimited domestic calls/text while on the Sprint Network for students who receive a smartphone.
- Free Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliant content filter with every device. This filter blocks adult content and malware while on the Sprint Network. Specifically designed for the 1Million Project, this filter is always on and cannot be disabled.
- Eligible high school students will receive free Sprint wireless service for up to four years, depending on their grade level when they start the program.

High schools and school districts interested in applying for the 1Million Project must meet the following requirements:

- Commitment to be enrolled in the program throughout its duration.
- Ability to identify and support a minimum of 200 students each year who are eligible for the program (grades 9-12 who do not have reliable home internet access).
- Provide eligible students with a student information form that must be filled out before the device can be distributed to the student.
- Assign a dedicated district program manager who is able to spend a minimum of 10 hours per week supporting the program, including holidays and break periods. This program manager will act as the primary point of contact.
- Assign a local resource at each school location to facilitate program requirements at that location. The local resource will act as the primary point of contact for that school location and should be a teacher or guidance counselor.
- Manage device inventory which includes storing devices in a secure location.
- Provide program feedback to the 1Million Project.
- Engage locally and nationally as a program champion, communicating program details and materials, collecting and sharing student impacts, etc.

In order to continue in the program from year-to-year, schools must meet all program requirements as well as the following annual milestones:

- Attend pre-activation webinar which prepares schools for activating and distributing devices to eligible students.
- Participate in trainings as offered on relevant topics.
- Host and manage an Activation Day each year where schools activate and distribute devices to eligible students.
- Agreement to apply best efforts to activate annual device allotments within a defined timeframe:

- 30% of your devices activated within 30 days of your initial activation day
- 60% of your devices activated within 60 days of your initial activation day
- 100% of your devices activated within 90 days of your initial activation day
- Ensure a minimum of 60 - 65% of devices are in use per month

- Communicate changes in student status when individual students are no longer participating in the program due to school transfers.
- Complete surveys from the 1Million Project (anticipate a minimum of 2 per year).
- Administer surveys to the 1Million Project students and families (anticipate a minimum of 2 per year).

Additional information can be found in the Project Terms and Conditions.

Target Student Guidelines:
The 1Million Project is focused on providing reliable internet access to low-income high school students without current reliable in-home internet connectivity. Circumstances in which students can be considered as lacking reliable in-home internet access include:

- Multiple students in the same household, working from a single computer.
- Internet is available at home, but at a very low bandwidth (i.e., dial up speeds) and is not adequate for completing homework assignments.
- Student does not have access to a connected device during reasonable study hours.

College Board Collaboration
The Foundation is excited to collaborate with College Board to help encourage and incentivize participating districts’ students to use their 1Million Project mobile Internet access and free device to study for the SAT with Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy. Created by Khan Academy and the makers of the SAT, Official SAT Practice is free and personalized for all students with thousands of practice questions, video lessons, quizzes, and full-length practice tests.

Participating 1Million Project students will be rewarded with additional high-speed data when they practice for the SAT for the recommended number of hours. Pilot districts may include Chicago Public Schools, Oklahoma City Public Schools and San Antonio ISD.

GrantWatch ID#:

GrantWatch ID#: 184908

Eligibility:

Additional Eligibility Criteria:

Local high schools and school districts that can identify, enroll and support a minimum of 200 high school students and a maximum of 5,000 per year who do not have reliable high-speed Internet access at home. Schools are encouraged to use their Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) data to help identify eligible students.

Individual families, students and non-profits cannot apply.

While applications must be submitted by the high school or school district (as they will be the official account holder on record for their students), the Foundation recognizes the value non-profits can bring in closing the homework gap and encourage them to partner with their local schools to support the 1Million Project.

This program does not support BYOD (bring your own device) and the free service is not transferrable to non-1Million Project devices.

Pre-Application Information:

Applications for the 2019-20 school year will be accepted through December 31, 2018.

Applications will be considered on a first come first served basis and, dependent upon receipt date, may be considered for the 2020-21 school year.

The Foundation will send all applicants a response in the spring of 2019, letting them know if they have been accepted into the program.